Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Cleaning up the clutter

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

Over the past several days my husband, Aaron, and I have been diligently working to empty out a storage unit we’ve had for several years. Both of us have dreaded this task and, though keeping it was costing us money every month (which added up into the thousands over time), we kept putting it off for several reasons. We knew it would take a tremendous amount of work and time sorting through everything, not to mention the effort and cost of loading and hauling it all away.

However, the most daunting reason for our delay was very personal to Aaron. You see, this was the storage unit he had purchased shortly after the tragic passing of his former wife. When faced with the many horrific details of letting go of his best friend and partner in life, getting rid of everything that reminded him of her was simply too much to ask. So, he neatly packed every tangent piece of her life away in boxes to be dealt with when things didn’t feel so raw and so painful—out of sight, but certainly not out of mind.

This wasn’t just another storage unit. It was a reminder of what used to be, and what will never be again. It was a lifetime of dreams, plans, work, personality and accomplishments that tragically came to an end long before they should have. And as we sorted through every item—many of them damaged over the passage of time—I was humbled by the reality of how fragile and fleeting life truly can be.

“For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14).

I am inspired by Aaron’s quiet strength as he has worked through the necessary process of letting go. He does not mourn as “others who have no hope,” for he is confident that because his former wife knew and loved the Lord, she is resting in His presence—fully healed and fully at peace. I am also thankful for the opportunity to be Aaron’s helpmate now as he navigates this lifelong journey of having loved and lost.

Finally, these past several days have caused me to think about how the human soul can be compared to a storage unit. How often do we tuck things way for a rainy day that need to be brought out into the light and sorted through? How much easier is it to tuck our griefs, sins, struggles and heartbreak neatly away than to face them head on? I can tell you from experience that though it seems like the easier choice to bury the painful things deep down inside, they never go away—and at a great cost to us over the passage of time.

What have you stored away that needs to be brought out into the light and sorted with the help of your Heavenly Father? It may seem like a daunting task and may even bring up years of hidden pain. But with God’s help, you will also uncover strength you never thought possible, wisdom more valuable than rubies, and the hope to walk through your life unfettered by the past.